Programs will increase oral health care access for thousands of residents
Posted: November 19, 2008
ORAL HEALTH FOUNDATION PROVIDES $620,000 IN GRANT FUNDING
Programs will increase oral health care access for thousands of residents
(Boston, MA) – The Oral Health Foundation recently awarded $620,000 in grants for initiatives designed to improve oral health for thousands of Massachusetts residents. This is the ninth year that the Oral Health Foundation, funded by Delta Dental of Massachusetts, is contributing to organizations that increase access to affordable, and preventive oral health services for children, elderly and families in Massachusetts.
“In order to maintain good oral health, children and adults need access to proven common sense measures such as dental sealants, fluoride, and regular visits to an oral health professional for exams and cleanings,” said Judith Foley, senior program officer for The Oral Health Foundation. “The work of the Oral Health Foundation is to seed both grassroots local efforts as well as coordinated statewide initiatives aimed at halting the progression of dental disease in children and adults. Our goal is to partner with key organizations to bring real and sustainable change to their communities.”
2008 Grant Recipients include the following organizations:
The Boston Public Health Commission’s Office of Oral Health was awarded $56,110 to create a citywide coalition focused on filling the gaps of services available for populations in need.
The Tri-County Coalition of Oral Health Excellence received $107,900 to increase access to affordable emergency, preventative, restorative, and specialty care for residents of Cape Cod and the Islands, a region of the Commonwealth that has been designated a dental professional shortage area. The goals are to increase access to oral health care for populations of greatest need and expand, enhance, integrate and sustain the existing oral health programs and services.
Health Care Options will use its $56,914 in funding to guide the Elder Dental Program to sustainability. The Elder Dental Program addresses the serious gap in oral health care services for low income seniors in southern Norfolk County and provides elders with links to oral health related resources in their neighborhoods.
Massachusetts Coalition of School-Based Health Centers received $176,023. School-based health centers (SBHC) provide comprehensive preventive and primary health care services to students on a school campus. This funding enables the Coalition to expand training and technical assistance to school-based health centers that are adding or expanding oral health services throughout Massachusetts.
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers’ $200,000 grant will support the development and coordination of enhancements in the quality and efficiency of the dental services in community health centers across the Commonwealth, with a goal of ensuring their long-term sustainability.
University of Massachusetts Medical School received a $23,200 grant to prepare medical providers who serve children enrolled in MassHealth to conduct oral health risk assessments, apply fluoride varnish, and follow through on anticipatory guidance. The training expands the number of individuals able to offer preventive oral health guidance and early intervention for children throughout the Commonwealth.
“Dental decay is the most widespread chronic childhood disease – five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. And, it is almost entirely preventable,” said Ralph Fuccillo, President of the Oral Health Foundation. “Oral Health Foundation grantees address the many challenges of preventing dental disease by enabling communities to apply a range of proven strategies in their schools, health centers, and community settings. Incrementally, efforts add up across the state.”
Fuccillo continued, “We know we have done our work when programs that we helped start are so well integrated into and supported by their communities that they go on without us.”
About the Oral Health Foundation
The Oral Health Foundation was established in 2000 by Delta Dental of Massachusetts. In 2008, the Foundation’s grant making emphasized community solutions and statewide prevention programs. Funding targets were collaborations actively engaged in addressing oral health issues and willing to devise responses to decrease dental disease at the local level. In addition, the Foundation considered programming that increases access to preventive care for greater numbers of state residents. The Foundation also works to promote the importance of oral health through collaborative, community-wide awareness programs such as the Watch Your Mouth Campaign. In 2008, the Oral Health Foundation took a leadership role in organizing the Better Oral Health for Massachusetts Coalition, a widespread effort by oral health stakeholders in all regions of the Commonwealth to develop an inclusive oral health plan for Massachusetts.
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